Anthony,

Here is a copy of your essay (file) and the text. Make sure that you are using in-text citations when you quote or reference a book. For example (Kesey, 1963, p.45). You should not use the entire citation everytime, that only appears on the references page. I also see that you are not following APA format. Please see the sample paper in the student resources section of this site. Let me know if I can help at all.

Ms. Shubert









Literary Feminism in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Anthony Mosley
3/17/08
Ms. Schubert




















Today in America we live in a world were the female can play both the father and the mother. Were the women in the family can actually make more money then the men. Now there are some people who don’t agree with this reality, and they choose to act on it. In One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey portrays his feministic views on women through characterization. He does this by giving a person of high authority and respect, and changing her into this object that doesn’t represent a female in a likely matter.

Nurse Ratched whom Bromdem refers to as “Big Nurse”, is the head ward in the psychiatric center. She tends to her patients with care, and consuls them when they are in need. Ken Kesey portrays this lady not as a nurse, but as a machine. She is described with orange skin, and steel colored lips and nails. The only feministic features she requires is her over sized bosom, and her oversized breasts. She hides her feministic side by putting on a starched uniform, and putting on a mask of authority. In this story she resembles your average everyday independent woman, who goes around, and makes sure everything happens on a time consistent base. Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group. Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group.


Randel McMurphy is a loud big, sexual individual. He comes in the story and basically starts trouble when he gets there. He sees a female in control and is automatically rebellious. He knows that he doesn’t like her because she is over controlling. He is a male who see a female with authority, and he doesn’t like it so he chooses to protest by making things harder for her. This is a prime example of sexism. A male sees female in control and automatically feels threatened. Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group. Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group.


Philip Darbyshire, is a feministic critic who views Nurse Ratched as a nurse who isn’t viewed as a realistic or un realistic nurse. Her occupation and the way she carries herself more masculine manner. This can allow her to be viewed as the head man of the center. Darbyshire, P (Dec. 1995). Blackwell Synergy Nursing Inquiry. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from Blackwell Synergy.com Web site: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-1800.1995.tb00146.x


Laszlo K. Gefin another feministic critic who views Big Nurse’s characterization in the story as an “erroneous generic classification”. The issue is how he describes her breasts in the book. He goes in death about how oversized her breasts are, and that describes her only feministic feature she has. So he emphasizes on it, and makes it known to the reader. Gefin also mentions in his criticism that critics that see big nurse as a realistic character, saw it as a straight attack on the women who lived during the time Eisenhower was president. Women during this time lived by the daily house wife lifestyle. Were the women cooks, cleans, and stays home to raise the children. (Gefin, L. (1992). Links.jstor.org. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from JSTOR: Modern Language Web site: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0047-7729(199224)22:1%3C96:TBOBNS%3E2.0.CO;2-0)


Ken Kesey goes more on an extreme level when he brings Harding into the story. This man asserts that the only power men have over women in sexual violence, and by thinking this he get angry because he can’t exercise his right to the impregnable nurse.

Towards the end of the book, McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched in the most horrible way he’s ever done. He decides to rip off her shirt and expose the little bit of feminism that she has. By doing this exposing her true side to her, and that she’s not just a machine. He then takes it over the top by choking her up to the point were when she comes back she needed a brace for her neck. This man has done so much damage to her, just so he can prove his feministic point. Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group. Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group.


In conclusion there are feministic symbols through out this whole story, and they are all expressed in different manners. There are some that will take you back to the 50’s and 60’s, and leave you in admiration over what you’ve just realized. Ken Kesey is a feministic writer who exposed a lot of feelings through his book. He does this by using a Nurse who is the head nurse in a corporation, and runs everything. There are men who are being taken care of in the facility that she works in and she is the only female, who tends to come off like a male.






































Reference Page


Internet Sources

Gefin, L. (1992). Links.jstor.org. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from JSTOR: Modern Language Web site: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0047-7729(199224)22:1%3C96:TBOBNS%3E2.0.CO;2-0


Darbyshire, P (Dec. 1995). Blackwell Synergy Nursing Inquiry. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from Blackwell Synergy.com Web site: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-1800.1995.tb00146.x

Book Sources
Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group. Kesey, K (1963). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Group.